Cybervision

Cybervision was a cyberpunk zine published by Kid Thalidomide (Eric Generic) and Saint Vitus (Dan Raasch). Unlike other "cyberpunk" zines, Cybervision was firmly rooted in both the hacker community and the punk subculture. Early issues featured vegan hair care tips, DIY body armor, and articles on Phone Phreaking. It was published in St. Paul, Minnesota, and lasted from approximately 1991-1994.

Cybervision achieved worldwide infamy after being featured on the front cover of City Pages. In a 2000 interview, Saint Vitus describes seeing his photo on the sides of city buses. Saint Vitus's "Cyberpunk Manifesto" was later reprinted in Wired Magazine, a Seattle weekly, a sociological textbook on "deviant" behavior, and was even translated into French.

In the wake of the City Pages cover story, the hacker community accused the editors of Cybervision of betraying their secrets, and the FBI (literally) came knocking on their door.

According to Cybervision #3, a Hollywood studio acquired the rights to their story (including rights to the names "Saint Vitus" and "Kid Thalidomide"), without their permission.

The editors of Cybervision were both experienced [Phone Phreakers] (a subculture that exploits vulnerabilities in the telecommunications system). They had previously placed collect calls to the White House.

Arriving just prior to the advent of the World Wide Web, Cybervision set out to create its own subculture. Issue 2 featured interviews with cartoonist Tom Tomorrow and cyberpunk author William Gibson; hacking tips by Earwig Impetigo; instructions for making spiked wrist bands out of bicycle inner tubes; and Kid Thalidomide's advice on how to defend yourself against attacks by Nazi skinheads -by embedding razorblades in your mohawk, and slashing your head from side-to-side (the author had recently been assaulted by skinheads, who tried to shave off his hair).